\3*\ to 42 •WW; TO :/■•■•:::'•- 5*'>lJ»3 ■>-■•::. 1 V' ,^ ^rV v -^ 1 -p .-A V' ■ % **. '* ; .A. ^> •/ - •> ••• ■ S «S v ^ % &£/ /> M 5 1 CC^t^r oC<£ ' c^c cC/^f c^Hy THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS, &C. &C. &C. THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS: OR, AN RXPOSITION OP THE POLITICAL JESUITISM OF JAMES MADISON, President of the United States of America. BY AN OBSERVANT CITIZEN OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. ALEXANDRIA . PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR. 1812. THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS, &c. &c. Nations, like individuals, are liable to diseases of various kinds ; and all diseases are subject to a crisis, or critical moment, when a change must take place, either for restoration or dissolution : to such a state as this is the United States, at this truly awful moment, reduced, by the drivelling policy and imbecile judgment of a man, of whose talents and political integrity the good people of these states have formed a most erroneous esti- mate. It therefore behoves us to fathom to the bottom the depth of the abyss into which we have been drawn, and the source of the vortex which has involved us in so perilous a situation, that the weak contrivers of it are at a loss how to steer the vessel of state clear of the rocks and shoals in which their own imbecile policy and pernicious 6 THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. councils have entangled us, at the present tem- pestuous moment. Every observant member of the community must have perceived the crooked and weak policy of Mr. Madison's administration for some time past; more especially during the last and present sessions of congress. But to what an awful crisis are we reduced ! — How little do the patriots of our country seem to attend! — What, I would ask, in the name of common sense, is the cause of this apparent apathy in our patriotic citi- zens at so eventful a period as the present, but a false reliance on the supposed abilities and integ- rity of the man who now fills the presidential chair ? It therefore becomes the painful duty of the writer, who cannot possibly have a single sinister motive in so doing, to develop a scene of political tur- pitude and depravity over which he has long mourned in secret, and which has occasioned all our interior distractions, and exterior difficulties. The ears of many honest well meaning citizens will undoubtedly be shocked to hear the name of James Madison mentioned as the author of all the evils complained of; but the salvation of the re- public sternly requires it, and the following just . \. i , ' ■ ELOCO/1T THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. 7 and faithful sketch of his political conduct, from the moment of his appointment to the office of se- cretary of state of the United States to the pre- sent day, must convince every impartial citizen who feels the least interest in the welfare of this country, and in the perpetuation of its most happy system of government, that the removal of Mr. Madison from the helm of state, and the substi- tution of a more able, honest, and efficient pilot, can alone save the republic from destruction, and the nation from ruin ! That Mr. Madison was never a sincere friend to the republican cause, can be evidenced from nume- rous facts ; and facts are stubborn things, unfortu- nately for this pseudo -republican ! That he ever gained credit with the republican party, as a person attached to their principles, has been always a mat- ter of surprise, and often of disgust, to the writer. Let us see then upon what this gentleman founds his claim to their confidence. From being the bosom friend of the late Alex- ander Hamilton, and concurring in most of his po- 8 THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. liticai views, a small aberration therefrom was too lightly received by the nation as an evidence of a more patriotic feeling, than his former coinci- dence with the political views of that gentleman seemed to evince : this was his opposition to the establishment of the Bank of the United States, some twenty years ago. But what has he done for the promotion of republican principles, or the con- servation of the great whig cause of our country, daring the long interval which elapsed between that important era, and the period of Mr. Jeffer- son's election to the presidency ? The whole sum of his services in the cause amounted to his writing a pamphlet, showing the unconstitutionality of some acts of the general government, in unison with his opposition to the banking system ; and if he had ever any real bias toward the republican interest, it was completely annihilated in his mind by his intermarriage with Mrs. Pain, a lady of tory principles, now Mrs. Madison : such is the effect of female influence on men of weak minds ! What was his conduct on the first great occasion which presented itself for the display of patriotism, and the exercise of principle, subsequent to the MZ.^Jkasfc**. THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. 9 establishment of the federal constitution? During the administration of Mr. Adams, which has been emphatically denominated the reign of terror, from the persecutions which were set on foot against the republican party, by the faction which then governed the country, and their proscription of the republican principle itself, Mr. Madison cau- tiously avoided all interference, and completely abstracted himself from public life, by retiring to the mountains of Virginia, where he remained in quiet, until the storm which had raged against the system of republican government was past, and the legitimate sons of Columbia had triumphantly pla- ced their favourite sage, Mr. Jefferson, in the pre- sidential chair. This great man, with all his per- spicacity and political wisdom, was not able to fa- thom the Jesuitical disposition of Mr. Madison, who had imposed upon his honest credulity by feigned professions of patriotism and republican virtue, insomuch, that the first act of Mr. Jefferson, after his inauguration, was the appointment of Mr. Madison to the highest office under the go- vernment, namely, that of secretary of state of the United States. It becomes now our business to B 10 THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. examine into his conduct in that important station, and to trace his career thence to the presidency, and down to the present era. Mr. Madison, thus brought forth from his safe retreat, on commencing his ministerial functions, found all the offices under the general government exclusively in the possession of federalists and to- nes. But notwithstanding that the nation had au- dibly declared, that a change was absolutely neces- sary, not merely in the high elective offices of the government, but also of those in its disposal, yet, in defiance of the policy which both duty and in- terest required, that a large portion of the republi- cans should participate in the minor, as well as the greater offices, Mr. Madison suffered the incum- bents which he found in office to remain there, and took some of them into his most intimate confi- dence, particularly those who had avowed them- selves the most hostile to the republican interest, through whom all the wise policy and plans of Mr. Jefferson, for the preservation of our national rights, and the perpetuation of free republican go- vernment, in these United States, were betrayed -m< ^/A^*^r? ry THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. 11 to the most inveterate enemies of both ! — It is suf- ficient to mention Mr. Jacob Wagner, whom he retained as chief clerk in the office of secretary of state, which afforded him free access to all the se- crets of the administration. Let it be recollected, that this man was, and always has been, the bosom friend of the noted Timothy Pickering, chief of the terrorist administration ; and that he was then in close correspondence with him, whilst Mr. Ma- dison made him the repository of the full confi- dence of the administration. Hence the abortion of it's wisest measures. And at this moment Mr. Wagner is proprietor of a paper in Baltimore, enti- tled The Federal Republican, which displays more virulent hostility to our national rights, and to the republican cause, than all the tory papers in the United States collectively. Mr. Madison, not content with retaininor such men as Wagner in office ; as if to display an open hostility to the republican cause, selected two of its most rancorous enemies as additional clerks in the office : one of whom was Mr. Forest, whose mid- night appointment to the magistracy of the city of 12 THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. Washington by Mr. Adams, on the eve of his go- ing out of office, was rejected by Mr. Jefferson, on account of his known hostility to the republi- can cause. The other of these newly adopted favourites, in virtue of their hostility to republican principles, was Mr. J. C. King, of whom and his colleague anon. At this time the clerks in the office of the secre- tary of state were all violent federalists, with one solitary exception, and Mr. Madison chose for his intimate associates the most strenuous oppugners of the republican cause from amongst them : such were Jacob Wagner, Richard Forest, and Doctor Thornton ! In fact, his whole deportment towards the republicans in the District of Columbia was generally so repulsive, that it was obvious his pre- judices were against that party, and his predilec- tions in favour of the federalists and tories: and notwithstanding his apparent acquiescence in the great and leading measures of Mr. Jefferson, whom he early conceived the desire of supplanting in the government, he often secretly counteracted them by an ambi-dexterous policy, which frequently THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. ] 3 defeated the best conceived measures of that able statesman, and tended to prolong and aggravate our national difficulties. The early part of Mr. Jefferson's administration was marked by the strong features of his great mind ; and, until thwarted by the counter current of his chief secretary's cunning contrivances, might be said to be in the full tide of successful efficacy. Such was that cardinal measure of his administration, the embargo ; when an extraordinary and equally un- exampled stroke of perfidy or weakness on the part of the secretary of state, and his colleague, the secretary of the treasury, defeated its great effect, and rendered our government and country the sport of the wily cabinet of St. James, which found, in the weakness or wickedness of our own ministers, an easy method of averting its powerful effects, at a moment when the wisdom of that great measure began to be manifest, by its heavy pres- sure upon the commerce of Great-Britain, and up- on the wants of her people. — The necessaries of life become scarce, and famine staring them in the face, supplies of the materials for navigation and manufactures cut off, their European commerce 14 THK REPUBLICAN CRISIS. annihilated, and that with America wholly sus- pended—this order of things naturally produced great agitation in the public mind, and tumultu- ous assemblages of the people began to abound throughout the kingdom, so as to become very alarming to the government, and induce a belief that they would be compelled, by our firm perse- verance in the judicious attitude we had assumed, to revoke their unjust orders in council, and change their hostile measures towards us, for those of a more amicable character. It is not denied that so bold and novel a measure as a long continued em- bargo, in a commercial country like ours, was ne- cessarily attended with some inconvenience to ourselves; but there cannot be a doubt, that the patriotism and good sense of our citizens would have reconciled them to the temporary privations which they sufFered, until the measure which oc- casioned them had produced the desired effect : more especially, as they well knew that these in- conveniences were of light consideration contrast- ed with the evils attendant on war, or the more direful alternative of national disgrace and thral- dom, in the surrender of those rights and that in- '?>M i . ( . i . THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. 15 dependence which our fathers had sealed with their blood : and, notwithstanding that the machi- nations of the emissaries of Great-Britain had pro- duced symptoms of disaffection in some of the east- ern states, I am persuaded there was sufficient vir- tue and patriotism amongst the great body of the citizens of these states, to have crushed any traitor- ous attempts of the British faction, had they dared to proceed to overt acts of opposition to the mea- sures of the general government ; a fact which is sufficiently exemplified by the correspondence of the spy Henry, with the governor general of the Canadas. At this critical conjuncture of our re- lations with Great-Britain, and when it had been^ ascertained that Mr. Madison's intrigues for the succession to the next presidency had succeeded, contrary to every principle of public duty and propriety, as well as to the dictates of honour and sound policy, did he authorize Mr. Gallatin, the secretary of the treasury, whom he had determin- ed to retain in office under his own administration, to open a secret negotiation with Mr. Erskine, the British minister, which should be ratified immedi- ately after his inauguration ! The terms of the 16 THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. compromise which this injudicious procedure led to, have been long since exposed to public view, by the publication of the famous documents laid before the British parliament, containing the cor- respondence between Mr. Canning, the British secretary of state for foreign affairs, and Mr. Ers- kine, the envoy of that government to the United States ; by which it has been seen, that an aban- donment of some of our essential rights was pro- posed, together with a relinquishment of the em- bargo system. At this conference, an odious con- trast was drawn between the political characters of the then president and the president elect. Mr. Jefferson Avas represented as actuated by unjust prejudices and prepossessions; and as being en- tirely hostile to England, and devoted to France ; whilst Mr. Madison was portrayed as the admirer of the British political system, partial to England, and attached to her interests, and at the same time inimical to those of France. To evince the sin- cerity of those assurances, the faith of Mr. Madi- son was pledged that he would, as one of the first measures of his administration, cause an act of congress to be passed, placing the two great belli- THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. 17* gerents on an equal footing with respect to their relations with the United States. (It will be re- collected that at that time the ships of Great-Bri- tain were interdicted from our ports and harbours, and those of France were permitted to enter them.) To the weakness and wickedness of this wretched, bungling transaction, we owe most of the national evils which we have endured ever since, and most certainly the prolongation of them all. Let us therefore examine the policy and justness of it as it respects our relations with these contending powers, at that period. It is admitted that France had committed many injurious acts upon our commerce, and her Berlin and Milan decrees were gross violations of our neutral rights, although she avowed the excep- tion of their operation against us, in the event of our defending these rights against the aggres- sions of her enemy. Great-Britain, on the other hand, had not only invaded our neutral rights, but her general conduct towards us was atrocious in the extreme. She not only captured our mer- chant vessels upon the high seas, but, in the c 18 THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. mouths of our own ports and harbours, she inter- rupted our lawful coasting tra H e, impressed our seamen, and incarcerated them in her floating pri- sons, there compelling them to aid in the diabolical work of murdering and plundering their own fel- low citizens ; and when their feelings revolted at such enormities, flogging them almost to death for refusing to obey their arbitrary orders. To crown all her other atrocities, Great-Britain most grossly insulted our government, and outraged the feelings of the nation, by a perfidious and murderous at- tack upon one of our frigates in the bosom of our own waters, while peaceably proceeding on a pub- lic mission ! — Several of our fellow citizens were butchered in cold blood by this unexpected act of violence, and others of them kidnapped to abide a more ignominious fate, by a mock trial for pretend- ed desertion. Such was our situation in regard to France and Great-Britain at the moment when Mr. Madison procured the passing of the act for placing these powers on a footing in their relations with the United States. It may be seen, by recurring to A Enmtxwd /!'/■ r/u ina2&tu irked, hv Mores Th m B Rocers. Print* THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. J 9 the debates in congress on that bill, that the mem- bers could not comprehend its meaning, or see in- to the propriety of the measure ; and it was ulti- mately passed with reluctance, merely through executive influence. As soon as it was known in France, that En<*- land and that country were placed on a footing in their relations with the United States, the im- petuosity of Bonaparte's temper hurried him into the infamous Rambouillet decree, by which he sei- zed and confiscated all the property of our citi- zens which he could find on the continent of Eu- rope, whilst his cruisers were set loose upon our defenceless commerce on the ocean ; to capture, burn, sink, and destroy all our vessels which ieli in their way, and carry our useful and industrious seamen into port, to be assigned to the prisons of France ! Meanwhile the British cabinet, who had instructed their minister Erskine to patch up an accommodation with Mr. Madison on his own terms, with a view to violate it when their object should be effected, finding themselves relieved from the pressure of the embargo, and that they 20 THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. had effected another purpose not less consonant with their views and wishes, namely, that of exci- ting against ns the renewed hostility of France ; did not hesitate to disavow the arrangement en- tered into between their minister and this govern- ment ! It is remarkable in this perfidious transac- tion, that they sent over two sets of instructions to Mr. Ersldne, to be made use of as circumstances might require: the one clear, full, and decisive; and the other ambiguous, and professedly doubt- ing the sincerity of the secret overtures, over the weakness of which they rejoiced, and determined to triumph. Thus was our lawful commerce ex- posed to the ravages of a piratical warfare, carried on against our neutral rights with unrelenting fe- rocity by the belligerent powers ; and this through the weakness and folly of our own government. To account for such a conduct on the part of Mr. Madison, a superficial observer must be puzzled, and even those of more perspicacity, who are pla- ced at a distance from the scene of action, must find themselves at a loss to decipher the springs and motives of so extraordinary a proceeding. To find a clew to the real source of this weak and ///un^a^/ JM^cJ^t THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. 21 crooked policy, we must look back to an impor- tant period of our history, which, at the first blush, may seem to have no connexion with the present subject ; but will be found, in the sequel, to have a particular and direct bearing on it. The period which I allude to is that of the convention of the United States, held in 1787, which framed our present federal constitution, and of which Mr. Madison was a member. It will be recollected that the plan of a general government proposed to the convention by the state of Virginia, was not a federal, but that of a consolidated union, in which the distinction of states should be nearly abolished, and their sove- reignty annihilated. This plan Mr. Madison warmly supported by every argument which his ingenuity could suggest ; and in the course of the debates of the convention he strenuously advoca- ted a proposition of Mr. Pinckney from South- Carolina, that the national legislature should have the power of putting a negative on all laws passed by the state legislatures, which the general go- vernment should disapprove of, and insisted that 22 THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. this power was absolutely necessary. He also de- clared that the senate of the national legislature could not be too strong, as he considered it a check on democracy ; and the longer the senators remained in office the better it would be for the stability and permanency of the government : he denied that the states ever possessed the right of sovereignty, but were mere corporations, having the power to make by-laws, and that they ought to be still more under the control of the general government than they had been under that of the king of Great-Britain. Such were Mr. Madison's ideas then of the form of government most be- fitting this country; and though he was obliged to yield to the will of the majority in the adoption of the federal constitution, yet he never lost sight of his favourite scheme, which revived with the prospect of his being placed at the head of the ge- neral government, and as soon as his election took place, he conceived the chimerical project of erect- ing a third party, on the ruins of both the repub- lican and federal parties, which should fraternize with the British, who would become his auxilia- ries in carrying into execution his contempla- 21 - / 6^0*^-1 ^^C 6i^^i 6/^- THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. 23 ted plan of new modelling the government. He had another motive, however, which, though of minor consideration, would of itself have indu- ced him to engage in this intrigue with the British minister : this was the desire of robbing Mr. Jeffer- son of the credit of having compelled the British to change their hostile policy towards us, and with- draw their unjust and injurious orders in council ; as the disclosure of his secret purposes to the Bri- tish minister, would at once prevent any accommo- dation with Mr. Jefferson, whose sentiments were represented by his own ministers to be so hostile to Great Britain, and partial to her enemy : thus prolonging our national sufferings, through a jea- lous and contracted temperament of mind, which could not brook the splendour of such a rival's transcendent talents. He therefore commenced his operations by throwing himself into the arms of the British minister, in the manner we have seen ; and soon after his being initiated into power, his project of forming a third party began to deve- lop itself, by the activity of his friends and emisa- lies disseminating discourses through the District of Columbia, in which he was represented as dif- 24 THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. fering widely in character and policy from Mr. Jefferson ; for that he was opposed to party spirit (meaning the republican party) and was not biased by any prepossessions in favour of France ; but, on the contrary, he thought the government of England was that alone from which we could ex- pect any justice, and that French influence had been too long prevalent in this country ; alluding to Mr. Jefferson's administration. In consequence of these intimations he was invited to a public din- ner at Alexandria, by the federal party, which he availed himself of with avidity ; and in the session of congress which was convened in the month of May next after his inauguration, the federal mem- bers warmly eulogized him, and called on the house of representatives for a vote of thanks, in which the republicans wisely refused to concur, and Mr. Madison was mortified by the negative. This did not, however, deter him from pursuing his third party scheme; he used every means to detach influential characters from the republican ranks, and with others gained over the grand sa- chem of the Tammany society so completely as to prevail on him to desert them on the ensuing THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. 25 anniversary of independence, and dine with the fed- eralists. At this time the war department was the only one of the public offices in which any republi- cans were employed, from whence they were soon excluded, at the instance of Mr. Madison ! These singular proceedings excited much alarm in the minds of the republican inhabitants of the District of Columbia, which induced them to hold an early meeting, wherein they determined on endeavouring to bring out the government either for or against them ; they accordingly resolved to give a public dinner on the fourth of July ensuing, to which the heads of departments should be invited ; and when their committee had made suitable arrangements for furnishing the dinner, endeavours were made by a gentleman high in office, one of Mr. Madi- son's most intimate friends and confidants, to in- timidate the person who had undertaken to fur- nish it, but without effect, and the dinner was of course given : the heads of departments, after long hesitation in giving an answer to the invitation, condescended to accept it, and accordingly ho- noured the company with their presence ; but not one of Mr. Madison's particular friends would at- D 26 THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. tend it ; on the contrary, they dined with the fed- eralists on the Capitol hill, openly avowing their contempt for the republicans. Every thing that savoured of the republican system became now unpopular at the presidential palace; and even the militia were deemed proper objects of discou- ragement ; for when he saw them marching towards his house on a grand muster day, with a view of paying him the homage of salutation which they had been accustomed to render his predecessor, he rode out in another direction to avoid them. How different was this from the urbanity and friendly condescensions of Mr. Jefferson, who would throw himself in their way on such occasions, and fre- quently invite the officers to partake of refresh- ments ; which had a great tendency to encourage military musters : on the contrary, Mr. Madison's repulsive conduct has operated so on the feelings of the gentlemen composing the militia of the dis- trict, that meetings of that body have been almost entirely discontinued. It seemed to be in every thing the wish of Mr. Madison to adopt a different policy from that of his predecessor in office, and he very often struck at the reputation of Mr. Jef- THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. 2.7 ferson by invidious means, with a view to break down his great popularity, and build his own on its ruins. Of this character was the insinuations of his emissaries respecting the late predominance of French influence ; his disbanding the militia which was drafted for immediate service, in Mr. Jeffer- son's administration ; his laying up the gun-boats, and putting the nation on a peace establishment, at a moment when the imbecility of his own mea- sures were calculated to prolong our sufferings by the encouragement and incitement of the aggres- sions of both the chief belligerent powers. Mr. Jefferson's humane system for meliorating the condition of the aborigines, by introducing the habits of civilized life amongst them, and turning their attention to the use of the plow and the loom, was given up, and those frequent invitations of their chiefs to the seat of the general government, which had such a tendency to attach them to (he interest of the United States, were no longer con- sidered a necessary part of the policy of the admin- istration. The consequence of this departure from so judicious a system of policy towards the savage inhabitants of our frontiers, has been their estrange- 28 THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. ment from vis by the arts of the British, who have contrived to convert them into enemies from hav- ing been our friends, as the recent catastrophe of Tippacanoe too fatally attests. On the contrary, Mr. Jefferson's conciliatory conduct was calculated to flatter their pride, and the kind treatment of their chiefs, when his guests, had a salutary effect in exciting their friendship, and attaching them to our government, as their natural benefactor. Amongst the many traits of imbecility in the cha- racter of Mr. Madison, those acts which are more immediately connected with the domestic system of state policy are not the least evincive of th% cast and texture of his mind. His system of fa- vouritism is too prominent to be overlooked, and a few instances will suffice to show the great in- fluence which Mrs. Madison exercises over him. Mr. Richard Forest, before mentioned, the major- domo of her household, was to be made a kind of semi-ambassador to the dey of Tunis, and to be allowed an outfit, a secretary of legation, and an adequate salary: he was accordingly nominated to the senate, but was rejected ; and, notwithstand- ing this repulse, he had the temerity to nominate ■ [ABiseifo ■ "art FoUo BMsTud hi Harrison EaU J33 Chesnut St Tkih .1? THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. 29 him a second time, and he was again rejected. Mr. I. C. King, another of the favourites, had asked leave of absence from Mr. Smith, when secretary of state, to go to Philadelphia for a short time ; but remaining there much longer than was request- ed or allowed, without any explanation of the cause of his extraordinary delay, his place was fill- ed by another person ; but soon after his return, when Mr. Munroe became secretary of state, he was obliged to yield to the solicitation of Mrs. Madison, and create a new place for Mr. King, as they dared not attempt to remove Mr. Colvin, who had been appointed by Mr. Smith to succeed Mr. King ; this Colvin having been editor of a pa- per in Washington, entitled the Monitor, in which he frequently inserted libellous paragraphs reflect- ing the grossest slanders on the character of that illustrious patriot, the late vice president of the United States, who acquired such immortal fame by the services rendered to his country during and since the revolutionary war. The popularity of this great and good man rendered him an object of the jealousy of president Madison, who was known to be the writer of those libels published M) THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS, by Mr. Colvin, against the venerable George Clin- ton, whose recent removal from works to rewards eternal in the heavens, has left his country to mourn the loss of one of her brightest ornaments, and most virtuous statesmen. The Mr. King, for whom Mr. Munroe was obliged to carve out a new appointment, is a man conspicuous for nothing but an adroitness at the card table, and a constant habit of low scurrilous abuse of republicanism ; qualifications best fitted to render him a favourite at court, and a welcome guest in the drawing- room. How different was the character of the late Doctor Dinsmore, whom Mr. Madison remov- ed from the war office on account of his politics. Possessed of an enlarged and highly cultivated mind, this amiable and enlightened man's whole deportment was dignified and benevolent, and his ardent zeal for the republican cause was so emi- nently displayed while he edited a paper which he formerly published in Alexandria, and latterly in Washington, so strongly recommended him to the friendship of Mr. Jefferson, that he conferred upon him the very place which was taken from him bv Mr. Madison on account of his unalterable ' . ■ Fainting ly J .VanAerlp im!i« athe defies ' i ..■hi of the Soirfl .... i' I . . irl THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. 31 attachment to these principles. Another instance of Mr. Madison's favouritism, by which the pub- lic interests have been greatly sacrificed, is Mr. Tench Cox, the late Purveyor of the army, against whom serious charges of abuse of the public con- fidence were exhibited upon oath, but were never- theless overlooked by the president, without even an investigation, till congress passed an act to abol- ish the office, and create a new one under better regulations ; to this new office Mr. Madison thought proper to nominate his favourite, Mr. Tench Cox, notwithstanding that the principal ob- ject of congress in abolishing the old one, was to remove him from the public service, which it was the duty of Mr. Madison to have done when his improper conduct in office became manifest : but to the honour of the senate, they unanimously re- jected him. / Among many other disqualifications which ren- der Mr. Madison ineligible for the high office of president of the United States, is his great want of discernment in the choice of suitable characters to fill the public offices. After an eight years in* 32 THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. iimate association in office with Mr. Robert Smith, he chose that gentleman for secretary of state on his own elevation to the presidency, yet in less than eighteen months he discovers that Mr. Smith is de- void of the capacity and talents necessary to quali- fy him for head of the department of state, if we are to credit the report of his friends and emissa- ries. The address of that gentleman to the people of the United States has already shown the Jesuiti- cal manner in which he endeavoured to get rid of him, without incurring the displeasure of his friends. The appointment of Dr. Eustis to the office of Secretary at war, is still a more glaring evidence of Mr. Madison's want of perspicacity, and discrimination of talent. It is notorious to the whole union, that Doctor Eustis is totally inade- quate to discharge the duties of that important office ; and Mr. Madison himself has given us the best evidence possible that he is not ignorant of this incapacity, by his late message to congress pro- posing to appoint two* assistant secretaries to that department ; which the congress wisely refused to sanction ; and yet he continues this man in office, after so public an acknowledgment of his inability THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. 33 to discharge its important functions. This is an- other instance of favouritism, whereby the national interests are jeopardized. The weak and jealous disposition of Mr. Madi- son would not suffer him to appoint men who are admired for their transcendent talents, to the great offices of the government, lest he should be sup- planted in the presidency; and his want of dis- crimination in selecting suitable characters from the class of citizens who are less conspicuous for great talents and abilities, has proved a sore evil to the nation. It is no way unlikely that his choice of such men is in a great degree influenced by the cunning contrivance of Mr. Gallatin, who has so great an ascendency over the president's mind, that he may be said to govern the union in his name, as the British ministry govern in the name of their king : and such men would be more likely to ac- quiesce in his purposes than those of greater abili- ties. Mr. Madison commenced his presidential career under the impression that the British ministry would W E 34 THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. coalesce in his plans of a third parly, and new mo- delling the constitution of the United States ; but to his great disappointment they disregarded his vi- sionary projects, and only took advantage of his weakness to promote their own purposes, as we have already seen. The rejection of his arrange- ment with Mr. Erskine so far disconcerted his views, that he was obliged to abandon his favourite plans, and again look to the republican party for support. Thus baffled in his favourite project, and this by the perfidy of his new friends and allies the British, Mr. Madison's weak mind was irritated to the highest pitch of resentment against them, and he determined to avenge himself upon them in the most summary way ! — He therefore (lies to the opposite extreme of attaching himself to France, with equal indiscretion, and issues his proclama- tion, declaring, that he had received satisfactory evidence of the revocation of the Berlin and Mi- lan decrees ; and placing France again on the most favoured footing in her relations with the United States, notwithstanding that it is too well ascer- tained, by every day's fatal experience, that these obnoxious decrees of France are still in full force, THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. 35 wiih some small degree of relaxation in the rigour of their operation against our commerce and neu- tral rights. It is to this weak and premature step that we are to attribute the prolongation of those aggravated wrongs which we have suffered from England; together with the imminent Hazard we are, at the present eventful moment, placed in, of being made parties to Napoleon's war of extermi- nation against Great Britain: and whilst we throw ourselves into the rapacious arms of the mammoth of the earth, we inevitably involve ourselves in the risk of being devoured by the great Leviathan of the sea ! What miserable policy ! Surely an im- partial neutrality, and a dignified attitude of self defence, maintained by wisdom and firmness in our national councils, would have preserved us from a predicament at once so humiliating and dis- astrous ! — Paternal spirit of the great Washington ! we invoke thee to arise and avert so dreadful a calamity from thy beloved country ! — May Hea- ven, the celestial asylum of thy blissful abode, a- vert it, and in mercy remove from our councils those weak and mischievous men who have thus 3b THE REPUBLICAN CRISI!?. jeopardized our peace, our prosperity, and our safety. The whole tenour of Mr. Madison's administra- tion, from the fatal moment of its commencement to the present day, has exhibited such a scene of Jesuitical tergiversation, of futile expedients, and pusillanimous subterfuges, that it sickens the mind to dwell on them ; whilst the alarming deteriora- tion of our public concerns, by means of this dri- velling policy, ought to be sufficient to arouse the nation from the apathy into which we have been too long sinking, to a sense of the dangerous pre- dicament in which we are placed. Every one in- deed, seems to be sensible of the unfortunate re- sults of Mr. Madison's imbecile measures ; but few there are who take the trouble of investigating the true cause, which is, in one word, the incapacity of the man to direct the affairs of government, more especially at a period when the whole Avorld is in so convulsed a state as at the present awful crisis. Finding our affairs growing worse and worse, session after session of congress, by the inefficient THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. 37 cy of his measures, Mr. Madison at length be- comes apprehensive of the dissatisfaction of the people, and the consequent loss of a re-election to the presidency; he therefore concludes to call that body together before the usual time, and as- sume a tone of energy and determination, which no way characterised any former part of his ad- ministration. Accordingly, when the present ses- sion of congress commenced, Mr. Madison made them a communication on our national concerns, which, if it were sincere, would have much rer dounded to his credit: the committee of foreign relations, to whom this message was referred, re- garding it as an expression of the genuine senti- ments of the executive, and as a true representa- tion of the real state of our national affairs, con- ceived it to be their duty to report the absolute and pressing necessity of congress adopting more energetic measures, for the maintenance of our national rights, than had been yet pursued: but Mr. Madison, in his usual Jesuitical style of ter- giversation, endeavoured, by private unofficial means, to counteract this effect, and get them to pursue a half-way course of inefficient measures, 38 THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. as formerly : finding, however, that these under- hand intimations were disregarded, and that con- gress had voted for putting the nation in a warlike attitude, as recommended by the message, he con- trived another method, through the ingenuity of his premier, Mr. Gallatin, of paralizing the war spirit, which had began to diffuse itself through the nation with a degree of enthusiasm which did honour to the patriotic feelings of the people : this was Mr. Gallatin's war budget, which propo- sed the most odious and unpopular system of tax- ation that could be resorted to, and at once put a damper upon the ardour of the nation. Mr. Giles, in an admirable speech, which should be read by every citizen who wishes to understand the true state of our public concerns, so ably exposed the weakness and inefficiency of the measures of the executive, as totally to disconcert the cabinet, and drive them to resort to other subterfuges, of which the measure of the present embargo was one; this, in conjunction with Mr. Gallatin's sin- gular budget, had a tendency to federalize the THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. 39 great commercial states of New-York* and Mas- sachusetts ; a result calculated on, and equally de- sired by Mr. Madison ; for he found that his popu- larity with the republicans, both in and out of con- gress, was sinking to a very low ebb ; and he cal- culated, that by federalizing these states, and breaking down the northern influence, where he apprehended the republicans to be most opposed to him in sentiment, that those states which still remained republican, would be so alarmed as to cling together in support of his re-election, rather # The JN"ew-York House of Representatives consists, for the next year, of 52 Republicans and 60 Federalists. The Senate 24 8 76 68 and as the electors of president are chosen by joint ballot, repub- lican electors, in favor of Mr. Clinton, are certain in that state ; notwithstanding the strong attempts from Washington to destroy, by dividing his party. The present legislature which nominated Mr. Clinton, consists of 95 republican members, of which four were absent from the meeting ; two from motives of delicacy, being officers of the gene- ral government, and two from indisposition. The 91 who were present were unanimous — a unanimity rare, and almost unprece- dented, and which appears to have been ordered by providence as an earnest of the success which is to follow. 40 THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. than hazard, by divisions, the elevation of a pro- fessed federalist to the important station of presi- dent of the United States. I hope, however, that I have so far pulled off the mask of this double faced Janus, that every impar- tial man can see the true features of his real cha- racter and policy ; and the destructive tendency of the measures of his administration, as it respects our most essential interests both at home and abroad. Should my humble efforts to save my country from impending ruin, and the great cause of republicanism from certain immolation at the shrine of a frensied ambition, prove successful, I shall deem myself the happy instrument of rescu- ing these states from foreign thraldom and dis- grace ; and the republic from so ruinous an infa- tuation as the re-election of so unfit a character as Mr. Madison, to hold any longer the reins of our government. But the late business of the nomination at Washington, may stagger the minds of some ho- nest republicans, as to the propriety of opposing it. THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. 41 I trust, however, that a candid statement of the circumstances which attended that transaction, will remove all doubt, and enable every true friend of the country and of the cause, to form a correct judgment as to the safest line to pursue. It has been shown above, that Mr. Madison, ap- prehensive of the desertion of the republican party, conceived the weak idea of superadding the pre- sent embargo upon Mr. Gallatin's designedly un- popular budget, in order to produce an effect that should federalize the great commercial states, and lessen the influence of the republicans in the quar- ter where he dreaded their opposition most, with a view to excite an alarm in favour of his own re- election, among those republicans whom he hoped would support him : thus displaying at once a de- pravity that would sacrifice every thing sacred to honour, to patriotism, and to prudence, for the thirst of power. Policy would have probably re- strained him from so barefaced an act of perfidy ; but that he began to despair of a nomination by a congressional caucus, from the tardiness of the members, and the actual opposition to his mea- sures, made by many of the most influential repub- F 42 THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. lican members of both houses. — It is believed that this tardiness of the members in holding a caucus for nominating a candidate to the presidency, was owing to the southern and western states, as well as those of Maryland and Massachusetts looking to that of New- York for a nomination, which would undoubtedly have taken place earlier than that at Washington, and of course have absolutely super- seded it, but for the accidental circumstance of a difference in opinion between the governor and the legislature of that state, on a local measure of state policy, which occasioned a prorogation, in order to give time for reflection and due consider- ation of that measure. This incidental occurrence inspired hopes in the breast of the president, and of his state juggler, that a caucus might be conjured up, by good manceuvering, which should nominate Mr. Madison ; and the wily Genevan lost no time in setting his engines at work about the capitol, in order to effect the desired object : it was now there- fore represented that no business of importance would come before congress until the arrival of the Hornet from France; an event which could not be expected sooner than the first of June, if THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS. 43 then, and that the members might disperse, to visit their families, or pursue their pleasures, without a risk of injury to the public interest, till that period. Many active and influential members did accord- ingly ask, and obtain leave of absence till the first of June ; and some for the remainder of the session ! Congress thus thinned off, the precious moment was seized, before the return of the absent mem- bers should take place ; and a caucus was procured after tampering with many members of both hou- ses, and persuading them that no nomination would take place in the state of New- York (to which it was known they looked) and that it was necessary, from the unpleasant result of the recent elections in that state and Massachusetts, to appear unanimous in the nomination of Mr. Madison, as there were apprehensions entertained that there would be a powerful federal opposition. Thus the members were cajoled by mere management, to acquiesce reluctantly in a surreptitious nomina- tion : but when the news of the nomination from New- York reached the capitol at Washington, how did the members stare at each other with as- tonishment ; how vehemently did they express 44 THE REPUBLICAN CRISIS their regrets at what had taken place there ; and with what consternation were the folks at the pre- sidential palace seized, at beholding so unanimous a vote of the republican members of the important state of New- York, in favor of their own candidate It behooves us now to consider the merits and cha- racter of the gentleman whom that state has offer- ed for the national suffrages, at the ensuing presi- dential election, Mr. De Witt Clinton is the son of the respect- able General- James Clinton, the present Cincinna- ti^ of our country, and one of those revolutiona- ry heroes who fought our battles during the strug- gles for independence with unshaken zeal and fidelity; and the nephew of our late vice presi- dent, the venerated George Clinton, who was a still more conspicuous character in that glorious cause : having been not only an active general in the army, but governor of the state of New- York when the enemy had possession of her metropolis in the south, and hung upon her borders in the north j a situation the most arduous of any in the United States at that important era, in which he £nt/rared rsr Murray* HutoryofikeAnurieanKir. GJEJfEBAL CLINTOFc m&ed/brT.Satnon.-ffeH'awl&.itpon.tyne lEHWHSIG 1 (SIMSTKCDK'c Y ^ ^4 A N V ■&• 1 B 4 '^ ^ * V> .\ o -fi >0o. i>/ . .V ^ .*» x ■*> y ^0 c> ^\cP ,A V ^ A* ^^ ', > o^ -7^ ^< x ^. > ■ * o „ ^> % rj. ^ -V < * o . X